The Class of 2020
by Julienne Gautier
Summary: The next generation of Hogwarts students are now in their sixth year. While the rest of the Gryffindors have 'appropriate' girlfriends and boyfriends, James Potter, son of Harry and Ginny, seems to keep running into a certain Pallas Malfoy, the only child
1. Reunions

The Class of 2020

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, blah blah blah.

Introduction: The year is 2013, but don't despair, the rest will be during their sixth year. This is just the easiest way of introducing the important people.

Minerva McGonagall smiled to herself as she watched the first years climb the stairs towards her. This was a class that had been long awaited by Hogwarts. These were the children of some of the greatest wizards and witches of the age, and many of them she had known since their babyhoods. Yes, this class had a lot to live up to.

After going through the usual directions, she led them into the Great Hall for the Sorting. The older students were staring at the first years more than usual, for these were the eldest children of their childhood heroes. Professor McGonagall levitated the stool and Sorting Hat over to the platform and pulled a list out of her pocket. After going through a couple of muggle-born's names, she came to the first familiar one.

"Boot, Tara," daughter of Terry Boot, made her way slowly to the hat and was made a "RAVENCLAW!"

"Finch-Fletchley, Thomas," she said. He was the son of Justin and Hannah Abbot Finch-Fletchley. The hat said, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and the small boy looked relieved.

"Finnigan, Bridget," daughter of Seamus and Lavender Brown Finnigan was next, and she became the first "GRYFFINDOR!"

Several more students went through the Sorting, but none went into Gryffindor until…

"Jordan, Nigel," son of Lee and Angelina Johnson Jordan. He was met by a chorus of cheers when he joined Bridget Finnigan at the Gryffindor table.

"Longbottom, Alice," glided dreamily to the stool. The daughter of Neville and Luna Lovegood Longbottom, she was an exact replica of her mother. She seemed startled out of a dream when the hat, after much deliberation, shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

After a few more people were Sorted, "Malfoy, Pallas," daughter of Draco and Pansy Parkinson Malfoy became a, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Potter, James," winked at McGonagall and sent thumbs up to Dumbledore before sitting on the stool. Black haired and green eyed, he was a perfect replica of Harry, but he had Ginny Weasley Potter's spunk. No one was surprised when the hat said, "GRYFFINDOR!" before it even touched his head.

"Potter, Lily," didn't give the hat much challenge, either. While some said she looked like Ginny, those who knew her grandmother insisted that she was Lily Evans Potter reincarnated. After being named a "GRYFFINDOR!" she went to the table when she was caught in a wild hug by Nigel Jordan and her twin brother.

"Thomas, Jada," daughter of Dean and Parvati Patil Thomas was a blithe girl who was immediately declared a, "GRYFFINDOR!"

All that was left now of the once large crowd of students were three boys with flaming red hair and a girl with strawberry blonde hair. Sabrina Weasley was the daughter of Bill and Fleur Delacour Weasley, and dearest friend of her cousin Lily Potter. Devin Weasley was the son of Fred and Katie Bell Weasley, and Corin Weasley was the son of George and Alicia Spinnet Weasley. As their fathers were the infamous twins, their eldest sons looked like twins and had as close of relationship as Fred and George had ever had. Finally, there was Theodore Weasley, the son of Ron and Hermione Granger Weasley, and best friend of James Potter and Nigel Jordan.

Before McGonagall could call out Corin's name, the Sorting Hat shrieked, "Weasleys again! Give a poor hat a break! All of you, GRYFFINDOR!"

* * *

Five Years Later

"Lily, dear, are you sure you packed your dress robes?" Ginny Potter asked her sixteen year old daughter as they were standing on Platform 9 ¾ saying their goodbyes.

"Yes, Mum," Lily sighed, standing on her tiptoes to look into the crowd.

"Aw, Mum, you know that Lily's the perfect prefect! She doesn't forget anything! Especially not Charlie Wood!" James teased, receiving a scornful look from his sister.

"James, please don't tease your sister. And try not to get into too much trouble. Remember to set an example for your brothers," Ginny admonished, sounding very Molly Weasley.

"Don't worry, Mum, they will receive plenty of examples!" James said with a wink to his second year brothers Sirius and Remus.

Harry came over from talking to Ron and Hermione and said, "All right, Ginny, that's enough. Lily will look out for Sirius and Remus, and James is used to Howlers by now. Say your goodbyes, and then it will be time for the train to leave."

Lily hugged her mother and father and then said, "Well, I must find Charlie and go to the prefect's carriage! He's Head Boy, you know. See you at Christmas!"

Ginny pulled James into a tearful hug and unsuccessfully tried to make his hair lie down. As James shook his father's hand, Harry pulled him closer and said in a low tone, "Watch that Charlie Wood like a hawk."

James grinned and said, "Aye, aye, Captain!" To his mum, he said, "Don't worry, Mum! I won't do anything to jeopardize my life or the lives of others. Love ya!" And with that he jumped on the train, leaving Sirius and Remus to Ginny's motherly affections.

He walked down the hall, searching compartments for his cousins and friend. He found them in the last compartment and was greeted by a chorus of, "Oy, Potter!"

"Guys, may I present the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain?" Theodore said, winking at James.

After being bombarded with congratulations, he said, "Yeah, yeah, you say that now, but you won't say that when you see my practice schedule!"

Nigel grinned and said, "As long as we win the cup, mate, I don't care. I was just worried that Wood would get it."

He was answered by a chorus of "Here, here"s before James said, "He's Head Boy, so I guess Dumbledore thought he would be too busy. I just wish he was too busy for my sister."

"So he's been pestering her all summer?" Corin and Devin asked in unison, cracking their knuckles.

"Yeah, but what's more, she's starting to like it," James said gloomily. "It's been Charlie this and Charlie that all summer."

"You liked him all right before he started making eyes at Lily. I mean, Dumbledore did make him Head Boy, and he is a bloody good keeper," Nigel said, slowly.

"Traitor!" shouted Devin.

Corin said, "I wasn't going to say anything, but you deserve it, mate. Guys, Nigel has been snogging Jada Thomas."

After a couple of silent seconds, the rest of the guys exploded with comments like "You go man!" "How long?" "Why the bloody hell didn't you tell us!?"

Nigel gave a sigh of relief and explained, "I didn't know what you guys would say. I mean, after the way you all teased Theodore about asking Adriana Chang to the Halloween Ball last year."

"That's just because she turned him down to go with Thomas Finch-Fletchley," Devin said.

"Thanks a lot, Dev," Theodore said.

"Well, details please! You can't leave your best mates hanging!" James complained.

Nigel blushed and said, "Well, I won't tell you everything, but it still may take a while. Ok, it all started over Christmas break…"

"I knew we should have talked you into coming home with us!" Corin interrupted.

"Anyways, Jada was alone like I was, so we decided to spend Christmas day together. When she came down that morning, there was something different about her. She looked like a goddess. The way those muggle clothes fitted her…"

"Too much information!" Theodore complained.

"Ok, well, anyways, I was dumbstruck. I must have looked like a fool just standing there staring at her. She came over to me and laughed when I tried to stammer out a hello or merry Christmas or something. She slipped her arm through mine and asked, 'Well, Nigel Jordan, are you going to take me to breakfast or what?' Now guys, I had known Jada Thomas all my life, but at that moment I felt like I was meeting her for the first time.

Well, I finally found my tongue, and we went to breakfast and just talked about Quidditch and stuff. We were headed out of the Great Hall when none other than Orpheus Rookwood appeared. He gave Jada an appraising look that made me seethe with rage that I had never felt before, and then he said in that droll tone, 'Well, Jordan, looks like somebody might get lucky today.'

Just before I could draw my wand and hex the life out of him, Jada roared 'How dare you, you filthy son of a flobberworm! _Engorgio_!' Rookwood swelled up so that he looked like a flobberworm!

Jada grabbed my hand and we ran off towards the tower, laughing fit to burst. We stopped on the third floor and sank to the floor, still laughing and out of breath. We had finally stopped laughing when she leaned over and kissed me. I was in shock. She blushed and started mumbling apologies when something came over me and I kissed her back. And we have been together secretly ever since," Nigel finished, grinning toothily over the memory.

He was brought back to the present by and chorus of sarcastic, "Awww!"

"I knew you guys would laugh!" Nigel shouted.

James slapped him on the back and said, "All right, mate, we won't laugh too much! But you know we have to give you a hard time. You are the first one of us with a girl. Right guys?"

The others refused to meet his eyes.

"Guys?" James asked again.

Theodore was the first to speak up, "Well, you know that Ravenclaw, Nicole Tonks, Adriana Chang's friend? She, uh, kind of felt sorry for me…"

James turned to Devin and Corin, who were the deepest shade of Weasley red. ?"

Devin mumbled, "Tara Boot."

Corin blushed even deeper and shouted, "Bridget Finnigan, OK! Are you happy now?"

James looked abashed at his embarrassed friends and said in a low, dangerous voice, "So you mean to tell me that I am the only guy on the Gryffindor Quidditch team that hasn't had a girlfriend!?"

"Um, doesn't have, mate. We've all been writing to them during the summer," Theodore said cautiously.

"I don't believe this! Well, please excuse me! I didn't know I was in the Future Married Wizards of Britain compartment!" and in a temper he had inherited from both of his parents, he stormed out of the compartment. He went off in search of Lily and Charlie. Just as he rounded a corner to go into the next carriage, he bumped into none other than Pallas Malfoy.


	2. Interlude on the Hogwarts Express

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: See Ch.1

"Great!" James thought, but out loud he said, "Sorry."

He received a look of disdain from a pair of steel gray eyes and she replied, "I cannot expect anything less from a Gryffindor, Potter."

"And I wouldn't expect a Slytherin to know the meaning of the word 'sorry', Malfoy! I am not in the mood for a quarrel, so please get out of my way," he said, his temper getting even hotter.

Pallas gave a sarcastic laugh and tucked a stray blonde hair back into her bun. "Ah, so Mr. Potter is mad! And yet he composes his manners before a lady. How typically Gryffindor. Tell me, Potter, how is your father, The-Man-Who-Killed-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Still basking in the glory of his youth?"

"That is really something, Malfoy. You think I don't know. How sweet," James said, knowing he was about to gain the upper hand in their argument that had lasted for the past five years.

For the first time in her life, Pallas Malfoy looked vulnerable as she nervously asked, "And what information do you think you have?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just something that would ruin the spotless image of Pallas Malfoy of the great House of Malfoy," James said.

He watched as she turned pale and was surprised when she grabbed the front of his robes and demanded, "What do you know?"

"Take your pick. That your grandfather was a Death Eater; that your father was a Death Eater; that he paid the Ministry huge sums of money to clear his name; that if he makes one wrong move he will go to Azkaban for life; that nearly everyone in your mum's family is locked up there already. The list goes on and on," James answered.

She pushed herself away from him and then she did something he never would have imagined her doing in a thousand years. She began to cry. Through her sobs, she said, "You don't know! You don't know what its like!"

James stood there in shock as he watched her run down the hall into another carriage. He wasn't sure if it was shock in what he had just witnessed, or if it was shock in that he actually felt sorry for her.

* * *

Later that night, James sat in his favorite chair beside the fireplace in the common room. Most people had already gone to bed, including the other sixth year guys. They had made up before they got off the train. He was deep in his thoughts when he was awakened from his reverie when the Fat Lady swung open and his sister entered holding Charlie Wood's hand.

"Lily!" he shouted, his face turning red with sudden anger.

She instantly let go of Charlie's hand, who looked like a cornered deer. She said, "James, it's not what you think!"

"What I think is that you were out of the dormitory late at night with this…this…," James said, trying to think of what Charlie really was.

"Really nice guy who just happens to be Head Boy, who just happens to have the same patrolling times as I do, and who just happens to be my boyfriend!" Lily roared, her temper just as great as her twin's.

Charlie grinned at her and asked, "So you will be my girlfriend?"

Her temper abated for the moment, she gave him a tender smile and said, "Of course I will."

During their tender moment, James stood there, fuming in silent horror. His chin nearly hit the floor when Lily kissed Charlie on the cheek before he slipped up the stairs to his dormitory. When he managed to find his tongue, all he could say was, "Lily!?"

She sighed and put her arm around him and said, "James, you are the best brother a girl could ask for. But, it is time for you and Dad to realize that I am not a little girl anymore. I can take care of myself. Charlie is really special to me, and I hope that you won't ruin it for us."

"Lily, just promise me you will be careful. I guess Charlie's all right, but you're my sister. I'm going to be hard on anyone that goes after you," he replied, pulling her into a hug.

"I know that, just like I will be on any girl that you decide to give the time of day. And there are many that would like you to, you know. Don't be afraid to live a little, James," she said.

"Aw, go to bed! I have had enough of all this love mess today."

Thanks for the reviews!Jules


	3. Schedules and Slytherins

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Nope, sorry, don't own Harry Potter.

"Merlin!" Sabrina Weasley exclaimed the next morning at breakfast while she was looking over her new schedule. "I have N.E.W.T. Potions first thing this morning! I should have known that was coming when I got an Outstanding in it."

James was simply staring at his schedule, which caused Lily to wave her hand in front of his face and say, "Earth to James!"

"Oh, sorry," he said, a grin coming to his face.

"Mate, if you're happy about classes, you need a brain charm," Theodore said, helping himself to more bacon.

"You would be happy, too, if you only had N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, and Herbology, plus electives!" James replied, looking very pleased with himself.

"How did you get out of Potions? I thought everyone had to have that," Alice Longbottom asked. Like her father, she had to take Remedial Potions.

James was about to answer when Lily cut in and said, "He cut a deal with McGonagall last year before O.W.L.s. She said that if he got an Outstanding in Potions, she would give him Advanced Transfiguration and Occlumency as two of his three electives. That way he can still follow Mum's wish of his being an auror without having to suffer Snape."

"I've never heard of those classes," Bridget commented.

"That's because McGonagall only gives them to _special_ students. James has never done any wrong in her eyes," Lily said, giving her brother a playful nudge.

"Can I help it if I am really good at Transfiguration? Now, if you nosy badgers will please excuse me, I have an appointment with a certain Slytherin," he said, and he, Devin, Corin, Nigel, and Theodore left the girls at the table to wonder what they were up to.

"Are you sure we won't get caught?" Theodore asked nervously, taking another glance at the Marauders' Map to reassure himself that no one was in the vicinity.

"Have we ever, Mr. Prefect?" Nigel said, sarcastically.

"No. It would just be a terrible waste of all these things Uncle Fred and Uncle George sent us," he replied. Fred and George kept their sons and nephews well stocked with items from Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes.

"That's more like it, Teddy. Now be quiet and get ready. Rookwood is coming this way," James said, getting a Percy Peeve at the ready.

They were all well hidden behind statues when Rookwood came sauntering down the corridor with his 'entourage', a.k.a. Gregory Goyle, Jr., and Vincent Crabbe, Jr., who had as many gorilla-like qualities as their fathers. Just as they passed the first statue, they were pelted with Percy Peeves, Hornet Powder, Floating Dust, and Furry Feathers. Within seconds, they all resembled flying, itching, irritated chickens. The Gryffindors roared with laughter.

Wiping a tear from his eye, James said, "You guys go on! I have a free period at the moment, and I think these fellows need to be moved into a more public spot."

The others headed towards the dungeons for Potions still laughing while James used a levitating charm to float Rookwood, Crabbe, and Goyle to the entrance hall. Just as he rounded the corner, out stepped two sixth year Slytherin girls, Severna Pucey and Felicienne Montagu. With a snicker, Severna said, "Caught red-handed, ay, Potter?"


	4. A Plea for Help

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, but I do own a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am.

Lady Blue Devil and A lil' Like Raven, you rock! Thanks for the reviews!

"What shall we do with him, Severna?" Felicienne simpered, smiling evilly at James.

"Oh, I don't know. We could just take him to Professor Snape…" she replied, circling him like a vulture.

"Or we could have a little fun first," Felicienne interrupted, raising her wand, and just as she was about to utter a hex, there was a sudden flash of light.

When the light subsided, Felicienne and Severna were unconscious on the floor, as were the 'chickens' in the air. James looked up to see the source of the charm, and it was none other than Pallas Malfoy.

She ran up to him, grabbed his arm, and said, "Follow me. We have to get away from here before they wake up."

James blindly allowed himself to be pulled into a vacant classroom several corridors away. Pallas pushed him inside and preformed a Silencing Charm on the door before turning to him and saying, "You are probably wondering what's going on."

"Wondering? I'm bloody well confused! You've hated me for the past five years, and now you are zapping people from your own house and dragging me off to a vacant classroom! Are you somebody taking Polyjuice potion?" James fumed, placing his hand on his wand.

"No, and if it makes you feel any better, here's my wand," she said, lying it on a table. "We have about an hour before our next class, and that should give me time to explain. Then, you will never have to speak to me again. Deal?"

James looked at her dumbfounded, but he took his hand away from his wand and sat on a table. He said, "All right, but an hour is all I have."

"Thank you!" she said, a light shining in her eyes that he had never seen before. She began to pace the floor and said, "I will start with the day we first met, the day we first came to Hogwarts. My father had surprised me by bringing me to catch the train. Normally, a house elf would accompany me anywhere I needed to go. My parents aren't exactly what you would call affectionate.

So, we were standing on the platform, and my father was talking to Mr. Rookwood. Orpheus walked over to me, and began a self-flattering monologue that he would call a conversation. I pretended to listen, but I was actually looking around the crowd. While my parents raised me to be stoic, they also allowed me books that taught me about emotion. I felt jealous of all the other children with their families, loving and being loved. Just before I went to get a seat on the train, I begged my father to give me a hug, but instead he merely gave me a cold smile and pressed a money bag in my hand.

I was sitting in a compartment by myself when I first saw you and your family. I watched you being hugged and kissed by your parents and aunts and uncles, and I saw the camaraderie between you and your friends. True to my teaching, at that moment, I despised you. That is why I ignored you when you tried to introduce yourself that night when we were loading into the boats," she said, looking down at her feet.

"But that doesn't explain how you went from hating me to defending me!" James said.

"I was just coming to that," she said, giving him a sad smile. "At the beginning of the summer, I went home to the Malfoy Manor, prepared to spend another drab summer of the Rookwood's and my mother trying to get Orpheus and me together. For the 'sake of our blood', they would say. A week into the summer, my mother insisted that I put on my best robes and come into the parlor. I was expecting the usual: I would sit and speak when spoken to while my mother and her 'friends' discussed the 'old' days.

What I found was my father waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs and my family and the Rookwood family standing in the parlor. I gave my father a quizzical look, and he told me silently that I was to be betrothed to Orpheus Rookwood. Before I could argue, he put the Imperius curse on me, and I knew no more until I was back in my room that night. I knew I had to get out. I escaped that night and have been living with my aunt Andromeda ever since. For the first time, I was actually loved! I gave no thought to the whole matter until I arrived at the platform yesterday. Rookwood said he would 'forgive' me, and I told him I would rather marry the giant squid than him. That makes things rather unpleasant for me in Slytherin.

When I ran into you yesterday, I did the only thing I knew to do: I tried to chase you away. But then you spoke of my family, and that scared me. I don't want to be Draco Malfoy's daughter anymore, and I need your help," she finished, giving him a searching look.

James just stared at her. The bell to change classes rang, and he said, "I have to get to class."


	5. Halloween Ball Prospects

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I would eat the finest truffles every day.

One Month Later

"Not again!" moaned James as he read the announcement board in the common room.

"What?" Nigel asked from his seat by the fire, grimacing since Theodore had just defeated him at Wizard's Chess for the third time in a row. That's what usually happened when you played against Ron Weasley's son.

"We're having another bloody Halloween Ball!" James complained, throwing himself into a chair.

"What's so bad about that?" Devin asked, looking up from _WWW_, a monthly magazine by none other than Fred and George Weasley.

"Of course it's not so bad for guys who have girlfriends," James said, throwing a contemptuous glance at his friends.

"Well, it's nobody's fault but your own that you don't have a girlfriend. Remember Amy from Hufflepuff?" Corin asked.

"Amy Hammond? I thought she was going to drown herself in tears after I turned her down last year," James said, groaning at the memory.

"Well, what is wrong with her?" Lily asked, coming over from talking to Charlie.

James just starred at his sister for a moment and then said, "Well, um…she cannot transfigure a toad into a stool!"

Lily made an exasperated sound while Nigel said, "Is that the best you can do?"

At that moment, Jada and Bridget joined the group, sitting beside their respective boyfriends. "What are we talking about?" Jada asked.

"The fact that my brother could have just about any girl in this school, and yet he is in distress over a date for the Halloween Ball," Lily said.

"What was wrong with Amy Hammond? She's a nice girl," Bridget asked.

"Her transfiguration skills are not up to par," Corin answered sarcastically.

"Jocelyn Andrews?" questioned Jada.

"Too tall," answered James.

"Melanie Arte?" suggested Theodore.

"That know-it-all?"

"Adriana Chang?"

"She thinks she is Venus herself."

"Samantha Rubenstein?"

"She's a Ravenclaw beater!"

"Silvia Liszt?"

"Her eyes scare me."

"So basically what we're looking for is a transfiguration goddess, medium height, smart and pretty but modest, not too aggressive, with non-scary eyes," Lily summed up.

"This should be an easy task," Devin said mockingly.

A Few Days and Many Refused Invitations Later

James walked quickly down the hall to Transfiguration, looking down at his feet and trying to block out the sound of the giggles that seemed to follow him. He agreed with his father: Giggling should be banned. He had been invited by no less than fourteen girls, ranging from third to seventh year, all houses, and all types. Many more just seemed to hover around him between classes, hoping that he would notice them.

When he heard the giggles get louder, he slipped down a couple of side corridors until he could no longer hear them. McGonagall would just frown at him if he was late, and then she would wink when she thought no one was looking. Still looking at his feet, he turned a corner to head to the classroom when he ran headlong into…


	6. A Plan for Change

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Nope.

"James Potter, you really ought to watch where you are going," Amy Hammond exclaimed as James helped her off the floor and helped her gather her books.

"Yeah, sorry," he murmured, mostly to himself.

"Oh, that's fine," Amy said, instantly flirtatious, "So, since you seem to be bumping into me, why not manage to do it at the Halloween Ball? Or do you already have a date?"

James quickly looked down at his feet and stammered, "Well…you see…"

"As a matter of fact, he does," a voice said.

James turned around and found himself face to face with Pallas Malfoy.

Amy had a look of complete confusion on her face. "What do you mean, Malfoy?" she asked.

"Come now, Hammond, I thought you a bit wittier than that. Though, I shouldn't expect wit from a Hufflepuff. Now, will you please grace my date and me with your departure?" Pallas said in a tone not unlike her father.

Amy looked as though she could not decide between hitting Pallas or looking dignified in front of James. She decided to fly at James, "You cannot go with someone so evil. You are the son of Harry Potter! And she…she is nothing but Death Eater scum!" And with that she stalked off.

When she was ought of earshot, Pallas said, "You're welcome."

"For what?"

"For saving you from an unpleasant encounter with Hammond. A lot of people think she is a nice girl, but they haven't seen her slipping around in the dungeons with certain members of my beloved House."

"Why did you do it?" James asked warily.

Pallas shrugged, "Well, you don't deserve it. I thought after I appealed to your legendary Gryffindor 'damsel-in-distress-must-save' concept that you would at least not ignore me when I tried to talk to you for the last month."

James sighed, "About that…"

Pallas reached up to tuck a strand of platinum hair into her bun and her sleeve fell back, revealing a nasty bruise in the shape of a handprint. She quickly tried to cover it up, but James had already seen it. She tried to swat him away, but he gently took her hand and pushed the sleeve up. He gritted his teeth and asked, "Who did this you?"

She looked him in the eye and said, "Slytherin is not a very nice place for me at the moment. I am lucky that this is the worst that has happened. Will you help me now?"

James stared at her for a moment and then asked, "What can I do?"

Pallas beamed at him, and he wondered how he could have ever thought ill of her. "Well, I have this plan…"

Several Hours Later

"This is absolutely unheard of!" McGonagall exclaimed.

"Professor, please, you have to help us!" James pleaded.

"Mr. Potter, first you don't even show up to my class, and then you come here and tell me this very confusing story, and then you ask if it is possible to get the Sorting Hat to change its mind about Miss Malfoy! And I thought you two were sworn enemies!" McGonagall said.

"Perhaps this will clear up matters a bit, Professor," Pallas said, rolling up her sleeve and revealing the bruise.

McGonagall immediately softened and said, "Oh, my dear girl. Who did this to you?"

"Does it really matter, Professor?" James asked. "Any Slytherin worth his or her salt would gladly do it to her. That's why she cannot stay there any longer. She needs to be resorted."

McGonagall thought for a moment and said, "Well, Miss Malfoy, I think it may be possible. After what I have heard, you are obviously a different person than what you have led everyone to believe. I believe you may have even fooled the Sorting Hat during your first year. Indeed, you may very well be a true Gryffindor."

"I was a Slytherin in my first year. But a lot has changed since then. I am no longer blind," Pallas said.

McGonagall smiled at her, "No, my dear, you are not. But how shall we manage to move you from Slytherin to whatever House you may be resorted into and let the whole school know?"

James unknowingly grabbed Pallas's hand and said, "I think I have a plan. Would you really like to be my date to the Halloween Ball?"


End file.
